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A long history

Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, February 11, 2007

High Point — Flocking goes back a long way — about 3,000 years. That's around the time the Chinese began applying a resin-based sizing to textiles and then sprinkling it with natural fibers. The object was to make the item more interesting and beautiful. It still works.

By the 1600s, Europeans were using the millions of tiny fiber bits left over from the production of wool to create velvety textured designs for wallpaper. In fact, there is even evidence that mechanical flocking was in use hundreds of years before that. Wooden models and mortars for crushing fibers were discovered in a cloister in the Nuremberg area of what is now Germany — and dated to the 12th century.

Flocking had another renaissance in the 19th century when wallpaper got popular with the upper classes in countries like France and the first industrial production of wallpapers began. About the same time, manufacturers started thinking of clever things to do with electrostatic force. Electrostatic energy was used first in the United States to make sandpaper in which all the abrasive bits could be made to stand up and point in the same direction. It didn't take long for the light to dawn — someone realized they could do the same thing with tiny textile cuts as well.

Genuine industrial production of flocked fabrics began in the middle of the last century and the automotive industry discovered added value from their ability to absorb noise. Since then, flocking has been used for everything from ladies apparel and sports logos to cosmetics and jewelry boxes, and it's having a renaissance in upholstery thanks to decorative applications on grounds like taffeta and linen.

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